Humane Society of the United States President Supports LMAS Director

The president of the Humane Society of the United States says he believes Louisville Metro Animal Services Director Justin Scally is qualified to improve the troubled department.

Wayne Pacelle is in Louisville on a book tour. He hopes to use his time in the city to meet with Scally, who worked for the Humane Society before Mayor Greg Fischer appointed him to his current post.

“I know that he shares our enthusiasm for ending euthanasia,” says Pacelle. “We know, though, that it’s not just up to animal services. It needs to be a community-wide solution. Everyone’s got to participate. We have to have all hands on deck to adopt out animals and to sterilize animals and to deal with all the issues that are critical.”

Scally has proposed improving relationships with adoption agencies and educating and aiding pet owners who have been hit by the recession and are struggling with affording their pet.

“There is a tremendous amount of work to get folks to that place where we’re adopting enough animals, where we’re sterilizing animals, where we’re doing behavioral work to keep animals in the home so they’re not relinquished because the owner can’t handle the behavior of the animal,” says Pacelle.

Scally was appointed after a string of controversies in LMAS, including sexual harassment and animal cruelty accusations directed at his predecessor. Pacelle says he hasn’t studied Scally’s proposals for LMAS in depth, but he trusts the director.